Why Germany Has Stayed The Dominate Power In Europe

after learning about this in world studies i wondered why germany has always been the dominate power in europe after the second industrial revolution i thought it was because of the vast amount industrial resources germany has so i like to hear your opinions on this and when do you think germany was at the height of its power? I say after the Franco-Prussian war.

Germany has the second largest population of Europe and it's just in the middle...

Because it's big, the same reason most major powers are major.

I'd risk to say that it's because they were always one of the most modern states of the world, in everything, politics, economy and military

Because its not France.

*I highly recommend you read up on Otto Von Bismarck and how Germany went from a bunch of small countries under one large one under the leadership and awesomeness of mother Prussia.

The problem is that much after Germany being beaten up badly 2 times, losing half of its territory, it still is the strongest economy in Europe and one of the most advanced countries technologically as well.

Well after the 2nd world war, President Truman will helped try to stabilize and build up the economy of the Germans (i can't recall what the name of the bill he passed to help the axis nations get on there feet) but the bill really helped make a stable west Germany, next you have two sides trying to pump there side of Germany up with Military, Economic, and Political aid. Then you have the collapse of east Germany and an infusion of ideas and a new rise in employment as well as immigration to Germany because its now a unified country, With all this its no wonder the German country is such an economical powerhouse.

You also have to take in to account that Germany is a huge population, Has or Had as i should say one of the most common used money (Deutsche mark) in the world, and is Geopolitical right to become a power in Europe.

They tend to kill the competition.

Economic, military and scientific stuff are their real skills. Plus they had plenty of resources to throw into the fire

good points i agree

i have a little and plane on reading about it more because its one of my favorite periods in history

Read Governments and Politics of the German empire as well as The life of Prince Otto von Bismark.

thanks for the suggestions

Because Germans are epic.
we like art, music, etc but we'll kick ass if we need to
and we always have been masters of industry and that is the fuel of the world

The only thing you guys really miss is Oil!

It's the sausages. They give them power.

There's a Belgian joke about that.
It's all because of the German spirit of 'gründlichkeit und pünktlichkeit'. (it's also kind true)

Truman didn't do as much as it was the legacy of Roosevelt and his advisor's that helped Europe in rebuilding after WW2.

After WW2 (in the 50's) everything got better because it couldn't get worse.
So, along with the momentarily boost from the US and combine it with the 'German Spirit' they recovered relatively quickly.

I like how you didn't translate that into english, for the non-german speakers on this forum.

I'd say it's because Germany is ideally placed to dominate certain markets (well, to a lesser extent than before), specifically in Eastern Europe. Germany gets agricultural produce from Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe gets industrial and consumer goods from Germany. And if that fails, the success of say, Thyssen/Krupp, BMW, Mercedes, BASF, Volkswagen, Audi, Hugo Boss, Siemens and Adiddas to name a few should be enough, especially if you try to come up with for example, some British counterparts to these companies.

it's all about the population.